Shaquille O'Neal scored 25 of his 37 points in the first half
and Rick Fox drained four three-pointers and added 16 points as
the Los Angeles Lakers trounced the Dallas Mavericks, 118-96, to
remain unbeaten.

With a 70-pound advantage on Dallas 7-6 center Shawn Bradley,
O'Neal made 17-of-23 shots from the field and pulled down 12
rebounds. He scored 15 points in the second quarter as the
Lakers built a 57-43 halftime lead. The All-Star center scored
eight points in a 10-2 run midway through the period, capping
the burst with a dunk for a 44-29 advantage.

"Shaquille O'Neal is a heckuva basketball player," said
Mavericks' coach Jim Cleamons. "His size and athleticism are
tremendous. I'm glad he's the only one in the league like him."

He's an awesome force," said Mavericks forward Dennis Scott, who
was a teammate of O'Neal's in Orlando. "I played with him for
five years and I know how strong he is. He's a tough
competitor."

Bradley's futility inside cost the Mavericks, who were outscored
66-28 in the paint. Los Angeles built its lead as big as 23
points in the third quarter when Eddie Jones sank two free
throws for a 81-58 advantage with 3:30 left.

The Mavericks closed to 97-89 off a 14-2 burst early in the
fourth quarter. But Fox hit a pair of three pointers and O'Neal
added five points as the Lakers put away the game with 15
straight points.

"In this league, everyone is a professional. We relaxed, so
they came back on us a little bit," said O'Neal. "We played
very well, but we can't afford to be overconfident.

"The Mavs just frightened me a little in the late third and
early fourth quarters," Lakers coach Del Harris admitted. "I've
been around too long and I've seen a lot of big leads blown this
year."

Los Angeles (5-0) shot 57 percent (46-of-80) from the field,
including 7-of-15 from behind the arc. The Atlanta Hawks are
the only other unbeaten team.

Scott scored 15 of his 27 points on three-pointers and Kurt
Thomas added 13 off the bench. Dallas hit 10-of-19 shots from
three-point range and 44 percent (38-of-86) overall. A.C. Green
had nine points, 16 rebounds and eight assists, but Bradley was
shut down, hitting only 2-of-12 from the field to finish with
six points and just three boards in 23 minutes.